The Rebound
by briefbeauty
Summary: Caroline Bingley needs to get over Darcy and she finds herself agreeing to a somewhat unusual arrangement
1. Chapter 1

Pride and Prejudice isn't mine

 **The Rebound**

 _Don't cry. Don't cry_. Caroline Bingley told herself over and over as she watched Mr. and Mrs. Darcy walk out of the church. She hadn't cried when she'd heard of the engagement all those months ago, not in public anyway. Luckily her body hadn't let her down in the sitting room when Darcy and Elizabeth had all but skipped in to share their good news with her and Charles, it had had the good sense to wait when she was standing in the shower later and then she'd cried like she'd never stop crying, like she had rivers and rivers of water in her body. She hadn't cried at the double engagement party that was held a week later for Charles, Jane, Darcy and Elizabeth so she didn't intend to let a single tear drop escape now.

No. She was stronger than this.

The group in the church slowly made their way outside to take part in the family photographs and Caroline slowly joined them. She couldn't in good conscience not be part of her brother's wedding photographs however poorly she thought of his choice in a wife and she had to accept that Darcy was lost to her forever.

Who was she kidding? She'd never had him…not at all…she'd always hoped that he would see her as something more that Charles' sister but she had to admit to herself that he never had; he'd never actually shown any interest in her, however much she'd thrown herself at him.

She knew that most people thought her incapable of emotions especially love but she loved Darcy and seeing him touch Elizabeth's face, look at her like she was the most precious thing in the world broke her heart.

She loved Fitzwilliam Darcy and he would never be hers. Not when he looked at Elizabeth like that. She wondered if she'd ever find someone who looked at her like that.

She wished she could skip out of the reception but she knew that everyone would guess that reason for not attending and she didn't want to give anyone a reason to gossip about her. Thank God, she'd never actually voiced her intention to marry Darcy aloud; she'd never even talked of wedding dresses and the like unlike some of her friends. She still had some dignity left. Not much granted but some.

The photo session soon ended and she entered Louisa's car to go the reception. The party was being held in the gardens of the Longbourn, a five star hotel. She had been part of the preparations, of course, and was glad to see that the place looked was beautiful as they had been promised. Luckily, since they had to catch flights that evening, the reception wouldn't be long; she only had a few more hours before she could drown her sorrows. Not that she like drinking all that much.

She soon found their table – the siblings table where she was going to sit with all her sisters and their husbands, in fact the only single people at the ten-seater were to be her and Richard Fitzwilliam, Darcy's cousin.

The reception soon began; the speeches were made, food was served, the cake was cut and then it was time for the dances. The brides and grooms were scheduled to leave shortly after that.

"May I have this dance?"

Caroline glared at Richard, who she'd ignored during most of the reception, she hadn't said much to anyone and had hardly eaten and certainly not taken any alcohol.

"Do we have to?" she asked him sourly when he left his hand out, waiting for her take it.

"Yes, I think we do," he told her.

"Why?"

"Three reasons, actually," he smiled, "I like dancing and I think you and I can out dance everyone on the floor right now."

"And the third reason?"

"Did I say three reasons?" he asked her.

"You know you did," she took his hand inspite of herself and allowed him to lead her to the floor.

"I'm glad you were listening," he said, "I thought you had somehow managed to block out my words when you refused to talk to me earlier."

Caroline snorted.

"I'm trying not to take it personally," he added conversationally, "but when a beautiful woman studiously ignores you for hours you can't help but feel very small."

"I doubt a person of your size can feel small," Caroline said. He was tall, much taller than she was.

"You'd be surprised at how many times I've felt small," he assured her, "but I'm glad to know that that wasn't your intention this afternoon."

"You dance very well," she told him.

"As do you."

000

Caroline looked around slowly. She was in bed.

Bed!

She sat up quickly and looked around the room. She didn't recognise it all. She wasn't at home, and it didn't look like the rooms at the Longbourn which she'd looked at as they booking a room for the bridal party to rest and change in before they left for their honeymoons.

It was a beautiful room, the bed huge and comfortable with a side table that had an antique lamp and French windows opening onto a beautiful garden with trees, grass and flowers.

She belatedly looked at herself; she was in pyjamas – silk ones, obviously not hers and her bag not that it had contained much was nowhere to be seen.

The door opened and Caroline jumped back into the bed and covered her head.

"You're awake at last," a man said, "I wondered if you'd sleep the whole day away."

She slowly lifted the covers and stared at the man. He was vaguely familiar. She had seen him before at least once or twice.

"Richard?" she asked haltingly.

"Yes," Richard Fitzwilliam smiled at her. "I wondered if you'd remember my name."

"What am I doing here?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember?" she asked. "Remember what?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Ah," Caroline touched head, it wasn't hurting. There's no reason for it to hurt, she told herself, she hadn't had a drink the day before, at least she hoped it was the day before. "We danced."

""You don't remember declaring how much your loved me?" he teased.

"I did no such thing," she was indignant.

"Of course not," he assured her. "You did no such thing."

"So, how am I here then?" she asked. "Where am I anyway?"

"You and I made an arrangement yesterday," he told her, "you agreed to be my pretend fiancée."

"No."

"Yes," he said. "And now if you don't mind, my dear, my parents are waiting to meet you downstairs."

000


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, adding to favourites and following. It's a bit out there but…enjoy**

000

Caroline quickly showered and changed into the clothes that Richard had left for her and joined him outside the room. She asked him to explain what was going on but he refused saying that she would soon know everything.

She wondered what she's agreed to, she still couldn't remember how they had come to any of understanding but she figured it was probably something to do with an inheritance or job; those were usually the reasons people invented fake spouses but she still couldn't understand how she'd agreed to be part of such a scheme, especially with someone she barely knew.

Richard led her to a spacious sitting room where two people were seated; a man and a woman - his father, Matthew and his mother, Nina. Nina was going to explain everything to her.

It turned out that Richard Fitzwilliam and his parents worked for the security services, they were spies and that Richard was going undercover in a few days, ten to be exact, and he needed to be married. The Harrow group that he was trying to infiltrate was going to have a meeting at one of the members' homes in London.

"Surely there are people he works with that could pretend to be his partner," Caroline said. They would be better for it than she could ever be.

"Yes," Richard agreed, "Helen my partner was to be my fiancée for this operation."

"What happened?"

"She had an unfortunate accident," Nina replied, "and then we reconsidered the logistics involved and found that you were the best choice we had."

"Me?" Caroline was puzzled. "Why?"

"The Harrow group are very thorough and I'm sure they'll do their homework; and they will probably be able to find out soon enough that Richard and Helen work together at Summerton Prep, that's their cover, and since they are employed there as brother and sister, you can imagine how weird it will be." She waved her hand to stop Caroline from interrupting. "You, on the other hand, are fairly famous; you run your family's foundation with your brother Charles who got married yesterday. What makes you perfect, and why we're actually thrilled that you agreed to help Richard, is the fact, and believe me I say this with all sympathy, of your relationship with my nephew Darcy."

"What?!"

"Well, it was quite obvious that you thought that he would marry you," Nina said.

Caroline stood up to leave, "I don't have to listen to this."

"Like I said, " Nina walked over and took her hand, "I'm sorry, believe me it is not my intention to hurt you, please sit, listen to our proposal, if you don't think that you can do it you can leave."

"You won't threaten to kill me?"

"We're the ones who need your help," Matthew spoke for the first time.

"I'll listen," Caroline said regaining her seat.

"Since we began preparing for this operation a few months ago there have been some changes in the Harrow group, yesterday Richard told you that he needed a fiancée but it turns out that he actually needs a wife, his cover as a married man is already in place and you could easily fill in the place of the wife. Now, I'll explain why I think you're perfect, as I pointed out since you were seemingly thrown over by Darcy it would make perfect sense for you to get married quickly on the rebound so it wouldn't be so strange if you decided to marry Darcy's cousin on the day after his wedding to Elizabeth Bennet. Secondly, you do exist, if and when they check up on you they would find that you are exactly would you say you are, Caroline Bingley who runs the Bingley foundation. Thirdly, you are an intelligent woman whom I believe has the qualities necessary to get close to the other wives during the course of the weekend meeting, you do it all the time to get funding for the foundation's activities and lastly you and Richard get on well, which would make it easy to sell the cover story."

"How can you know that we get on well?" Caroline asked. "We only met properly yesterday."

"He somehow managed to convince to come back here with him," Nina pointed out, "and there's the fact that he even bothered to do so."

"Let me get this straight," Caroline said, "I'm perfect for this job because I'm … the woman scorned?"

"Once the Harrow group finds that out I'm sure they won't dig any further," Nina assured her.

"Is Richard Fitzwilliam your real name?" Caroline turned to Richard.

"Yes," he replied, "I am going as myself, a teacher from Summerton Prep."

"Why are you invited?" Caroline asked. "How are you part of the Harrow group?"

"The Harrow group is a family group, membership passes from father to son; we found some papers, which we can't explain to you in full detail since they are classified, but suffice it to say they show that Richard comes from a Harrow group family and he'll be filling in a place that has been left vacant."

"Are you all spies?"

Nina laughed. "Our eldest son, Jonathan is actually a dentist, Lucy who follows Richard is an actress and Marina the youngest is a housewife, they actually don't know anything about this."

"So why Richard?"

"I was in the army and when I left… I somehow ended up in the security services," Richard laughed, "I didn't learn that my parents were part of it until later."

"This is crazy," Caroline said, "absolutely crazy."

"Too crazy to be a part of?" Nina asked.

"If I do this," Caroline asked, "does it mean that I have to join the services as well?"

"No."

"But I really have to get married to Richard?" she asked, "no pretense?"

"I'm afraid not," Nina said.

Caroline looked at Richard vaguely remembering his proposal that they pretend to be engaged; at that point she had agreed because she was tired of all the pitying looks and words of comfort and encouragement that she was getting from her aunts, she could still hear Aunt Edna telling her how her time would come soon; she hadn't let Richard really explain why he needed to be engaged. They could always get a divorce or even an annulment after the job. She shook her head slightly, and smiled at him. "Let's do it."

"Are you sure?" Richard asked. "Asking you to pretend to be engaged to me is one thing but actually getting married is another."

"Do you want me to change my mind?" Caroline asked him.

"No."

"Is there anything that you're not telling me?"

"No," Richard replied, "You've been told more than you should have, certainly, but I think Mum told you everything you need to know."

"I still can't believe these people are actually your parents," Caroline said. "Are you sure this isn't some huge joke?"

"It's not a joke," Matthew assured her.

"You can't tell anyone what we just told you," Nina told her, "especially about our work."

"I can invite sisters to my wedding, right?" Caroline asked, "or is that not allowed?"

"It will have to be small," Nina told her, "and it is going to take place soon, no later than Monday."

"But that's tomorrow," Caroline protested.

"It's a rebound marriage, my dear," Nina reminded her, "everyone should think you weren't thinking clearly."

"I'm not sure I'm thinking clearly agreeing to this," Caroline said, "but like I said, I'm in." Her life had become tedious of late; maybe this was the change she needed.

000

Caroline lay in the bath later that evening. She had called Louisa and told her that she was getting married the next day and her sister had been very concerned, she had agreed to come for wedding, she and Rebecca, one of their other sisters, the rest were no longer in England. Caroline knew that Louisa was probably coming over to talk her out of it.

She sighed and told herself to get out of the tub, the water wasn't warm anymore.

As she prepared for bed it crossed her mind that for the first time in months she hadn't even thought about her broken heart, hadn't invented ways in her mind of getting rid of Elizabeth Bennet, maybe this was just what she needed to help her move on with her life.

000


	3. Chapter 3

**000**

Caroline threw off the covers and sat up in bed. She had been pretending to be asleep for quite a while surely it was morning already, a glance at the bedside clock showed her that it hadn't even been an hour – it was forty nine minutes to be exact. She shook her head and reached out and switched on the lamp, she might as well do some reading since she was awake. She had asked Nina for some background information on the Harrow group which the older woman had kindly agreed to give her.

A few minutes later she put down the file and lay back on the bed. What was she thinking? She wasn't a spy – there was no way she could possibly do this. She didn't think she could do this. She obviously was out of her mind agreeing to this at all. She wanted to get married, who didn't, but getting into a marriage knowing full well that it had no future was pure madness. Whenever she'd thought of getting married, she'd always assumed that it would be because she was in love and gaining some social advantage and honestly for as long as she could remember the man in her dreams had been Fitzwilliam Darcy and yet here she was on the night before her wedding – a wedding to a man she barely knew – reading up on a mission. How her life had changed!

She needed some air, maybe it would help clear her head. She walked to the closet and pulled out some clothes and shoes and went out. There was a gazebo not far from the house, she would sit there awhile.

000

Richard was in the study on the ground floor going over the plans again- they had a little over a week before he was supposed to go the Martin house and he wanted to be more than prepared. The mission itself wasn't so hard, it was really reconnaissance nothing more making way for a bigger mission, and it was something he'd done hundreds of times before. He knew what was keeping him awake – he'd been engaged and even married for a mission before but this time it was going to be real and he was getting married to a civilian. It was nuts. He knew he should have argued against the marriage being real, he would have found a loophole, a way out of this whole mess but instead he found himself thinking that maybe marriage – a real marriage to Caroline Bingley wasn't a bad thing.

He shook his head; he really was going mad thinking such thoughts.

He remembered the events of Darcy's wedding quite well and of course he had heard of and seen Caroline Bingley before but they had never spoken. Dancing with her had been fun; she knew how to dance and her sarcasm had been quite interesting.

They had been on dance floor when yet another of her aunts, how many did they have anyway, had walked over to them and told Caroline that she was happy to see her having so much fun, that it was good she was getting over Darcy, her aunt had gone on to add that she'd always known that things between Darcy and Caroline would never work out but that Caroline shouldn't worry she would find another man soon, and who knew maybe she already had.

Caroline had wanted to walk off the dance floor and leave immediately but he had convinced that it would only make them think that they were right about her.

"And what makes you think I care about what they think?" she'd asked him.

"You don't want to give them the satisfaction that they're right, do you?" he'd countered.

"That doesn't mean that I should have to listen to this," Caroline had said. She didn't have to listen to this.

"If they think you're having fun, enjoying yourself," Richard had replied, "they'll stop talking about you soon enough and get back to being at this wedding."

"I can't wait for this day to end," Caroline had told him.

A sound brought Richard back to the present – someone had tripped the silent alarm. He walked over to the window and saw Caroline walking towards the gazebo – it seemed he wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping.

Without letting himself think about it he got out of the house to join her.

000

Caroline sat in the gazebo and stared unseeingly at the trees infront of her. It really was peaceful here, maybe that was why she was having trouble sleeping she missed the noise that lulled her to sleep at home.

She'd found out that the house belonged to Richard – she'd assumed it was his parents' but Matthew had told her that it had been left to Richard by his grandfather and that he stayed there when he could, most of the time though he lived in a tiny flat as befitted his cover as a teacher.

She had learned that he had worked on restoring the house to its former glory and that he loved gardening and he'd chosen and planted most of the flowers in the gardens. It was impressive work.

"Caroline."

She looked up and saw Richard standing infront of her, she hadn't heard him approach.

"Richard, what are you doing here?"

"You tripped an alarm when you left the house," he replied, "I saw you walk to the gazebo."

"I didn't mean to wake you up," Caroline apologised.

"I wasn't asleep," he said, joining her on the seat.

"Wedding nerves?" she joked.

"Work," he lied, "you?"

"Tradition," she said, "a bride-to-be must take a midnight walk before her wedding it's said to bring good luck and improve the chances of having healthy children."

Richard couldn't help himself he burst out laughing.

"I was actually thinking about tomorrow," he said, "what I should wear and the like."

"Me too."

Richard looked at her and smiled softly. "Caroline, you know you still have a choice, you don't have to do this."

"We can't let the Harrow group get away with everything they've done," Caroline told him, "and I'll have you know I'm a woman of my word, if I say that I'll do something I'll do it."

"It's only reconnaissance I can do it alone," Richard said.

"Are you trying to talk me out of marrying you?" she asked him.

"Maybe."

"It's not working," Caroline said, and she was surprised by how true her words were she had been worried about it but after seeing him just now she felt ready for an adventure. "Am I going to be trained in any combat skills?"

"No."

"How sad, here I was thinking that I was going to become a ninja of some sort," she laughed.

"What do you need combat skills for when you're running a foundation whose primary focus is promoting education?"

"Some of the wives may be nasty," she said.

"I'm sure you can handle them," he replied.

"Are you saying that I'm nasty?"

"No," he smiled at her, "I could never say that to the woman I'm about to marry."

"So you think I'm nasty but you can't tell me because we're not yet married?"

"I didn't say that."

"Did your partner, Helen was it, really have an unfortunate accident?" she changed the subject.

"Yes she did," he replied, "Did you think we'd make that up?"

She shrugged. "I don't know what to think. What happened to her?"

"We were both off this weekend, I had a wedding and she went off with her boyfriend, hiking, she fell down an old animal trap in the woods and broke her leg."

"Seriously?"

"She's in the hospital if you want to ascertain for yourself," Richard told her.

"How lucky for you that we run into each other at the wedding," Caroline said.

"If you're thinking that I went for the wedding with the intention of asking you to be my pretend fiancée you're mistaken," he said. "The security services employ plenty of women."

"I don't think that was your intention, no," Caroline replied, "but you're too well trained not to take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself to you."

"It was your suggestion that we pretend to be engaged," he reminded her.

"I didn't say that we pretend to be engaged," Caroline said, remembering the events of the wedding, "I simply pointed out that there would not be quite so many pitying remarks directed to me if I was engaged."

"And I offered to be the man for the job," he said.

"It was meant as a joke, I'm sure," Caroline said.

"No it wasn't," Richard said, "I told you that I might also be in need of a fiancée."

"I was there," Caroline told him, "we had a discussion about how a fake engagement would suit us both very well."

He nodded.

"Well here we are, about to get married."

"Will your sisters be here for the ceremony?" he asked.

"Yes, Louisa and Rebecca will be here," she replied, "to try and talk me out of it no doubt."

"Georgie will be here as well as my brother and sisters," he told her.

"Georgie?" Caroline hadn't expected that Darcy's sister would attend although now that she thought about it she should have known, Georgie and her cousin were quite close.

"She was already coming down here to spend some time with me before I went on the mission," he said.

"Does she know that you're getting married to me?"

"Yes."

Caroline shook her head; she and Georgie had never really got on, they didn't have much in common but the younger girl had known of Caroline's interest in her brother; she would probably be one of the first to testify of Caroline's marrying Richard on the rebound. "She didn't try to talk you out of marrying me?"

"No," Richard smiled, "Georgie would never do that, she just asked me if I was sure this is what I wanted and when I said I was she said she'd be here for me."

Caroline hadn't really thought about how far reaching the effects of their real 'pretend' marriage would be, she'd certainly not thought of Richard's family, this was getting out of hand quickly.

"I think I'll go to bed now," Caroline stood up. "Goodnight."

He stood up and smiled softly at her, "goodnight," he said, and pulled her in for a quick kiss. Caroline stiffened and pushed him back.

"What was that for?" she asked him.

"If you react like that when we kiss our cover will be blown," he replied. "I just wanted to get it out of the way."

"It's out of the way," she replied. She hadn't thought of so many of the details of this arrangement – intimacy of any sort with Richard hadn't been part of her plan which was quite ridiculous now that she thought of it, they were going to be married after all.

"See you tomorrow," he said.

"Tomorrow," she nodded and walked off.

000


	4. Chapter 4

**000**

Caroline entered the sitting room and sat down. She couldn't believe it. She was married. Mrs. Caroline Fitzwilliam. Caroline Fitzwilliam, she wasn't even sure it had even really happened.

She had opted to wear a simple white gown and Richard had surprised her with a bouquet of white peonies. It was simple but beautiful and very thoughtful of him – she loved peonies especially white ones. They had been married in the church where Richard and his siblings had been baptized; the ceremony had been simple and everyone happy; she had spent a bit of time talking with Georgie Darcy who seemed very happy for her cousin. After the service they had had lunch – a very grand affair at a four star restaurant and then everyone had left to give the newlyweds some semblance of a honeymoon; Richard was due back at work in barely over a weeks' time, and everyone agreed that they needed some time to themselves.

Caroline had seen off Louisa and Rebecca; they hadn't tried to talk her out of marrying Richard, they were very happy for her and they knew that she was going to be very happy. She wondered what they saw when they looked at her and not for the first time in her life Caroline wished that she could see herself as other people saw her.

000

"So Mrs. Fitzwilliam," Richard said as he joined her on the sofa, "what shall we do with ourselves this evening?"

"I have no idea," Caroline confessed, "I thought your mother would be here preparing us or something."

"It's our wedding day," Richard reminded her, "she wouldn't want to intrude."

"She knows why we got married," Caroline said, "it's not like we can't wait to tear each other's clothes off."

"We still need sometime alone," he countered.

"Okay," she said, "what are we going to do then?"

"You up for a walk?"

Caroline looked at him like he was crazy. "No thanks, I'm not much of a walker, as I'm sure you already know."

"I do," he agreed, he had checked her out obviously, or rather his mother had. They didn't want any surprises.

"Thanks for the flowers, by the way," Caroline told him, "that was really very sweet."

"You're welcome," he replied, "And I know I should have said this sooner but better late than never. You look great; in fact better than great, you look amazing."

"Thank you," Caroline smiled at him, "the words every bride should hear on her wedding day."

"I mean it," he said.

"I know."

Caroline stared out of the window; maybe a walk was what she needed, she would just change clothes and go with him. Her clothes and other personal effects had been delivered to the house in their absence but she had yet to find out where they had been put, now was as good a time as any. "So, just give me a few minutes to change and then we'll go on that walk," she said.

"Too late," he said, "there's been a slight change of plans."

"What do you mean?" It had been barely two minutes since he'd suggested they take a walk. She looked at him and was surprised to see him stand up and produce a strip of white silk from his pocket. She frowned at him, what was doing, she wondered. Remain calm, she told herself, remain calm.

As she looked at her he circled around to stand behind her and pulled the cloth over her eyes.

"Richard, what are you doing?" she asked nervously, she was almost one hundred percent sure that he wasn't a serial killer or into any kinky stuff, she forced herself to remain calm even as the silken scarf tightened around her head.

"Mrs. Fitzwilliam," he whispered in her ear even as he planted a soft kiss just below her earlobe, Caroline was unprepared for the tingling sensation that went through her body. "I have a surprise for you."

He took ahold of her hands and helped her get up from the sofa.

"Richard," she told him, "if you read up on me as I'm sure you did, then you know that I absolutely hate surprises."

"Come on," he teased her, "surely you can make an exception on your wedding day."

She let him lead her towards the door and then round a bend – she was almost sure they were still in the house, and since they hadn't climbed any stairs, he hadn't led her to a bedroom, unless there were some downstairs that she didn't know about which was entirely possible. He helped her put on her coat and tucked her arm in his.

He opened a door and she could feel the air on her face. They were outside somewhere. Surely they weren't going to take a walk with her blindfolded, were they?

"Is this some sort of trust game?" she asked him.

"No."

Suddenly the arm that had been tucked in hers left and he wrapped both his arms around her pulling her in for a hug. Caroline didn't like hugs, she never hugged anybody and her family was not the kind that showed open affection but somehow she felt secure in his embrace. Maybe she would rethink her thoughts about hugging.

As suddenly as Richard had hugged her he released her and took her hand in his again.

"What was that for?" she asked, her voice raspy. What was wrong with her?

"You just looked like you needed a hug," he told her.

She walked carefully, taking a few steps and then she said, "Why don't you just take the scarf off? It'll make it much easier for me to walk if I can see where I'm going."

"Nice try, Caroline, I wondered how long it would take you to tell me that, anyway we're here."

"We are?" she asked him, "so would you take the scarf off then?"

"Not yet."

"Richard, you said that we'd arrived," Caroline tried to reach up and undo the knot but he quickly grabbed her hands.

He squeezed one of them tightly. "Please."

He might have pushed a button somewhere or maybe he had it on a timer because the place was suddenly filled with soft romantic music. She stood silently as he reached out and untied the scarf from her head.

Caroline closed her eyes, she didn't even know why she was doing it, but she kept them tightly closed.

"Open your eyes," he told her.

They were standing on the balcony that led off from his study. It was lit by candles which had placed in frosted glass containers making it seem cozy and very, very intimate.

"You never got a chance to have your dance," he told her, "And that I heard is a very serious no-no."

"Really?"

"Yes, it is," he said, "may I have this dance?"

"You may," she smiled at him.

They danced for a few minutes in silence and then much to Caroline's embarrassment her stomach begun to rumble.

"I also got us some food," Richard told her, "I noticed that you barely ate at lunch time."

She had been too nervous to eat, one part of her wanting the guests to leave immediately so that she could get on with her charade of a marriage, and the other wishing that they'd never leave so that she would not have to get on with that same charade.

"I thought of having a table set here on the balcony with rose petals and everything," Richard said, "but I figured it would be too corny."

"Yes it would have been," Caroline replied, "but corny's acceptable on a wedding day, isn't it?"

"I'll remember that the next time I get married."

"You better buy a book," Caroline replied, "There's lots you're going to learn."

They went back to the kitchen where the food was, and it was perfect, she couldn't have wished for a better meal.

"Tell me about yourself," she told him.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," she said, "what do you do for fun?"

"I read, I walk, I run," he replied, "recently I got into mountain climbing."

"So have nothing in common," she told him.

"I've heard that opposites attract," he said, "and you do like to read."

"I doubt we read the same books," she said.

"You'd be surprised," he began, "I've read - ."

Caroline didn't get to know what Richard had read because the phone rang. Its sound loud and jarring and Richard stood up and answered it. As she watched he changed from easy going to urgent, his words were few, he seemed to be mostly listening and although he didn't his back on her, she was sure that he didn't want her hearing whatever it was that was being said. She continued eating for a while and then stopped her appetite gone, for a few minutes she had allowed herself to forget that she had married him in order to help him do a job; she had actually fooled herself into thinking that they were married because they wanted to be.

Thank God for the telephone.

She cleared the table; kept the leftovers in the fridge, washed the utensils they had used and after ensuring that the kitchen was clean and clear – Caroline hated untidy kitchens she made her way upstairs.

000

Richard watched Caroline leave the room and sighed deeply. What had he been thinking? When he'd asked Cameron, a friend from work, to decorate the balcony and also get the food delivered, he'd only been thinking of Caroline, how sad she had seemed. It was supposed to be a simple thing – no blindfold, no romantic music or dancing and certainly no flirting or kissing.

He wasn't supposed to be angry at Cameron for calling him to inform him that the news of his recent marriage to Caroline Bingley had reached the Harrow group. This was business, he'd known that going in, the marriage was real but it was for a mission and would be over as soon as possible.

He realised that he hadn't even heard what Cameron had said for the last two minutes. "I'll call you in the morning," he told him. He would call him in the morning when he wasn't distracted; a good night's sleep would clear away the cobwebs that were currently clouding his mind.

His mind would be totally focused on the job. Nothing else.

000


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much...I hope it doesn't disappoint**

 **000**

Caroline fell onto the carpet for the third time and groaned. She wasn't cut out for this. When Richard had told her that he was going to show her some moves to help her get out of almost any situation, she'd been excited. Finally she was going to learn how to fight; she'd always been intrigued and amazed by those women in films and on TV who could beat up men who were twice their size and she had told him so. Now, she wasn't sure anymore, she was just tired, hot and sweaty and she didn't like it at all.

"I think we've done enough for one day," she told Richard.

"It's barely been thirty minutes," he pointed out, "and you have yet to get me down."

"I'm tired," she said, "and this is all pointless, there isn't going to any need for me to fight."

"Self-defense skills are important for everybody," he said.

"So you keeping telling me,' Caroline told him, and he had at least four times, "but I guess I'm not cut out for it."

"I didn't take you for such a coward," he said.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him; he was baiting her trying to get a rise out of her but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She was going to stay on the carpet until she was good and ready.

"Fine," Richard said and stood up.

Caroline looked at him and without thinking about she got up quickly and jumped on his back and tried to get him in a choke hold. She didn't know how he did it but a few seconds later she was back on the carpet.

"That's good," he encouraged her, "let's try it again, and I'll show you have to do it properly and also how to get out of it."

"I don't think I have any strength left," she said.

"You do," he said, "get up and let's go again."

She sighed and stood up and tried to again, Richard showed her how to do it right, how to be the aggressor and then showed her how to get out of it. She was so excited when she got it right, she actually did a jig.

"Now let's try something else," he said.

"No," Caroline said, "I really think I've had enough and I still have some reading to catch up on."

000

"What about children?"

"I like children," Richard said, "the work that I do isn't conducive to having a family but my parents managed it somehow so I know it can be done."

"Not that it matters," Caroline said, wondering why she'd even brought it up at all, "it's highly unlikely that we'll ever have any."

"I wouldn't write it off that easily," Richard told her.

"Why not?"

"I just wouldn't," he shrugged, "anything can happen."

"So you want children?" she asked him.

"I would like to have children, someday," he told her, "don't you?"

"Sure," she replied. "Someday."

They were in Richard's study getting to know each other better. He had given her a dossier on him; with all his likes and dislikes.

"Where will we live?" Caroline asked suddenly. "I don't think I can move into your one-bedroomed flat."

"I hadn't really thought about that," he said, "I can't move into your house either."

"It's actually our childhood home," she confessed, "I stayed there with Charles because it's huge and it was easier than finding my own place especially since I really didn't have to." She stopped, put down the file and hit her head softly; she was such an idiot, she hadn't actually made any plans past Charles' wedding. She should have remembered that however easy going Jane was she probably wouldn't want her in her house. Instead of crying about losing Darcy she should have been making plans for her future. Where was she supposed to live now?

The Bingley foundation had a flat in town but it was mainly used by important clients who were visiting from out of town and she couldn't just take it over. She'd always thought she would leave her childhood home when she got married, a strangled laugh escaped her, and she was actually married now. She'd been right about that at least; she was married and it was time for her to leave her childhood home. At least she could afford to get a place of her own; her parents had each of their children quite a bit of money and she also got paid for her work at the foundation.

"I have to look for a place," she said, "the sooner the better. Charles and Jane wouldn't be back for three weeks but I can't go back home…I'm married now."

"I know someone who can help us get a house," Richard said, "or a flat if you'd prefer that."

"I want a house," Caroline said, "but I guess this is something that we have to do together, at least for now."

He nodded.

"Does that school pay well?" Caroline asked him.

"It's an exclusive school, a public school if you will," Richard said, "so we're paid more than other teachers but I still can't afford a house on my salary alone."

"We can always say that I bought the house," she told him, "because I am actually going to buy it."

"I can't let you do that," he protested.

"Richard, you have this place," she said, "There's no need for you to buy another house, especially one that you do not need. I, on the other hand, do not have a home and I need to get myself one."

"Your argument is sound, my dear," he said, "but I still can't let you do it."

"Do you just call me 'my dear'?"

"Yes."

"I guess you could have called me worse," she said, "but I'm still buying the house."

"What will people say when they hear that I let my wife buy us a house?"

"Why would they hear about it?" she asked, "but on the off chance that they do, remind them that I make more money than you do and I have expensive taste."

"Fine," he said.

"Good."

"I guess we better get started on it," he said, "I was informed that the Harrow group already got the news of our marriage, so let's show everyone that we're beginning our life together."

"Buying our first house," she quipped.

"My guy can send us some listings to go through," he said, "unless you'd rather go out and actually see the properties."

"Tomorrow is soon enough," she said, "I'm still sore from all those lessons."

"I thought you wanted to be a ninja," he said.

"That was before I found out how much training they have to go through and I already told you, not everyone is cut out to be a ninja," she replied, "besides you said that I'm just going to talk to people, right?"

"You can't be sure that they won't try to beat you up," he said.

"Go for the eyes, isn't that what you said?" she reminded him. "I got that part; eyes, knees, groin, I'm ready."

"If you say so," he smiled at her, "so Camden?"

"Yes," she replied.

"You're sure you don't want Chelsea?"

"I think my brother and his wife don't need me in their space," Caroline told him, "a fresh start in a new place is what I need."

"Okay."

000

Caroline sat on the balcony watching the sun set. She couldn't wait for tomorrow –she was going to buy her first house; it was definitely a step in the right direction.

"Care for some company?"

"Watching the sun set together could be one of our activities," she said.

"It's such a husband-and-wife thing to do."

"No it isn't," she said immediately. "None of my sisters watch the sun set with their husbands."

'How do you know?"

"They never talk about it," Caroline told him.

"And they tell you everything, do they?"

"Of course not," she said.

"Anyway it's still early days yet," Richard said, "we've only been married for a day so who knows what will happen tomorrow."

"I'm buying my first house tomorrow," she said, "I can't wait."

"Our first house," he corrected her.

"My house, our house, it's all just semantics, as long as you know that I'm keeping it when we divorce."

"You can't be thinking of divorce already," he said.

"You have to be prepared for everything," she said, "especially when you're married to a poor school teacher."

"Yes you do," he agreed. He was glad to see that she was back to her usual self again, having no home had hit her hard and Richard had discovered that he didn't like seeing Caroline broken and unhappy. It was probably why he had talked himself into this whole pretend marriage.

000


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much...I hope it doesn't disappoint**

 **000**

"It's going to be fine."

Caroline turned to Richard and smiled at him. "Of course it is," she whispered, "it's not like we're going to spend the weekend with a bunch of murderers and thieves."

He laughed and took her hand in his and together they walked to the front door where a man was waiting for them.

Gerald Martin smiled at them as they walked towards him. "Welcome, Mr. Fitzwilliam, Mrs. Fitzwilliam, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

000

The rest of the honeymoon had passed rather quickly; Nina, Matthew and a few people from the services had come to their place three days after the wedding, apparently three days was all the time they needed alone, and the preparations for the mission had begun in earnest.

Caroline was given a lot more material to read through; information on all the members of the Harrow group, husbands, wives, children, businesses and interests. She wasn't supposed to have all that information of course, she had just married Richard Fitzwilliam after all, and she had a foundation to run, but she needed to ready for everything.

She also had more lessons in fighting, Nina insisted on it, and got her a professional who came in every morning to ensure that she could hold her own in a fight. She didn't get any weapons' training, though; she wouldn't be given one to carry after all.

Additionally, Caroline had also gone back to work, although Richard had been against it. Matthew had overruled him pointing out that she needed to resume her normal routine as soon as possible.

"Miss Bingley," Bella, her assistant said when she saw her, on her first day back, "Mrs. Fitzwilliam, I mean, I didn't expect to see you …back so soon."

The foundation offices had been closed for a week following Charles' wedding, and since the announcement of her marriage had been in the media, Caroline was sure that no one expected her back so soon after her wedding, but she was still in charge and took her duties seriously.

"What I meant to say," Bella continued, "was congratulations."

"Thank you," Caroline replied.

"I thought you would still be on your honeymoon," Bella said.

"I have a foundation to run," Caroline told her, and walked past her into her office.

Bella eyed her boss and then picked her tablet and followed her into her office. She liked her work at the foundation; it was a job dream and she was well paid, the only minus really, was Caroline Bingley herself, she was very unpredictable and not so easy to please. She had fully expected that Caroline wouldn't show up after she'd seen the announcement of Caroline's marriage to Richard Fitzwilliam in the newspapers. She had never even heard of Richard Fitzwilliam, but then she didn't know about her boss's personal life, they could have been dating for years for all she knew.

"How are the arrangements coming along?" Caroline asked. "Everything on schedule?"

"Yes," Bella took the chair infront of Caroline's desk. "We actually received additional funding just this morning."

"It's always good to get money especially without having to ask for it," Caroline said. "Who is it from?"

"It's an organisation called the Royle and Stone, an investment firm, Mrs. Fitzwilliam," Bella said, "I've actually never heard of them."

Caroline stiffened. She was sure she'd seen that name somewhere. It had been in some of the files that she'd been given to read, she was almost hundred percent sure. She would check it up when she got home. "How much did they give?"

Bella began to tap on her tablet and then said, "Looks like a little over a quarter of a million."

Caroline nodded like receiving two and fifty thousand pounds was something that happened every day. "They're obviously very interested in promoting education."

"I haven't been able to get an address for them," Bella said, "in fact I don't even know how they were able to transfer the money into the development account without my knowledge."

"Just leave them to me," Caroline said, "I'll look them up and take care of it."

"Really, Mrs. Fitzwilliam?" Bella was surprised. Caroline was good at her job, she knew how to talk to people but she never liked doing research, and always put it off, although she always went through everything that they did. She knew all aspects of the foundation's work.

"Yes, Bella," Caroline smiled thinly at her.

"Okay," Bella replied, "the shipments also came in and I think the Stockton library is going be fully stocked by the end of the day, in time for the unveiling."

"At what time do they expect me there?"

"You're still going, Mrs. Fitzwilliam?"

"Why wouldn't I be going?" Caroline asked her.

"I just thought that now that you're married you wouldn't be going," Bella said, "I was going to call them and send your apologies."

"I'm still going," Caroline said coldly. "So, what time do they expect me there?"

"Four-thirty," Bella said.

"Anything else?" Caroline was staring at the screen.

"No, Mrs. Fitzwilliam."

Bella sat for a few more seconds and then stood up and left the room.

000

Richard's mobile rang for the third time; he'd been dodging calls from the office all day, he figured it was time he checked in. "Sorry," he said, without checking the caller ID, "been a bit swamped."

"You must be," Darcy told him, "if you got married without telling me."

"Darcy, "Richard was surprised, "how is the honeymoon going? I didn't expect to hear from you until you got back. How is Lizzie?'

"We're both fine," Darcy replied, "but what is this I'm hearing about you being married to Caroline?"

"What can I say?" Richard told him, "we're married."

"How did that happen?" Darcy couldn't help asking. "I don't know you had even ever met before our wedding."

"We had actually met," Richard replied, "twice, not that it matters, we're married now."

"Yeah," Darcy said, "I know, I saw the papers, the first paper I read in a week and guess what I find - a picture of you and Caroline and it says that you got married about a week ago."

"Yes, we got married almost a week ago," Richard replied.

"I'm sorry," Darcy said, "It's kind of a surprise."

"It was a tad quick, I admit," Richard said, "but we're very happy."

"You're sure?" Darcy was doubtful, "I know…I mean, I doubt that Caroline forced you into anything and I'm sure you wouldn't have married her unless you wanted to, so I guess the question I'm really trying to ask here is, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Richard assured him.

"You didn't do this for work, did you?" Darcy asked him.

They had never discussed Richard's job but Richard knew that his cousin had suspicions about the exact nature of his work although he never asked him directly about it; he wasn't surprised that Darcy had figured it out although he didn't know exactly what it was. "That's ridiculous," Richard said, forcing a laugh.

"So you did want to marry her, then," Darcy said.

"That's usually why people get married, isn't it?"

"Fine," Darcy said, "then I am happy for you and congratulations."

"That's exactly how this conversation should have started," Richard chided him. "Not with all those questions."

"I'm sorry," Darcy apologised, "it's just that I always imagined you'd share something that big with me, you know, that I'd hear it from you and even be there with you, instead of finding out about from the newspapers."

"I know," Richard agreed, "and I am sorry but everything happened so fast and of course your plans had been in place for months."

"But you're happy, right?" Darcy insisted. "You love each other?"

"Yes, we are, and we do love each other."

"Then I am happy for you," Darcy said.

"I hate you cut your call short," Richard said, "but I have to go."

"Yeah, me too," Darcy said, "we're about to set off. I'll see you when we get back."

"Yes, you will," Richard agreed, "kiss Lizzie for me."

Richard pressed the end-call button and put the phone down. He hadn't been expecting that; he sighed and forced himself to look at his computer again. He had work to finish.

000

"You didn't have to come with me," Caroline told him.

"I wanted to come," Richard said; they were standing inside the newly unveiled Stockton library. Richard had surprised her by going with her to the school, when she'd told him of her plans when he'd as she had been leaving the office. He had insisted on picking her up and driving her there.

"Thank you," she smiled, "you certainly made their day." The staff and students of the school had been very happy to meet him.

"This is a good cause and although I didn't contribute anything to the library, I'm very glad to be associated with it."

The school had prepared a cocktail of sorts for the unveiling and after taking a glass of champagne and being introduced to the staff, Caroline and Richard left the school.

"So how was your first day back?" Richard asked her.

"Fine, I guess, same as usual," Caroline replied. "My assistant kept calling me Mrs. Fitzwilliam at every turn."

"You better get used to it," Richard said. "It is your name after all."

"I know," she replied, "that's why I didn't stop her although I wanted to."

"I must say that I was surprised."

"By what?"

"I thought you'd hyphenate and become Caroline Bingley-Fitzwilliam and insist on our children being called Zara Bingley-Fitzwilliam and Colin Bingley-Fitzwilliam."

"Zara and Colin?" she asked. "No way, our children, if we ever have any will not be called Zara or Colin, and secondly, I have no particular attachment to the name Bingley so I don't think I need to carry it around with me all the time. I know who I am."

"So I can see." He laughed. "But I must warn you that I've always liked the name Zara, Colin too actually, so we may need to have this talk again when the time comes.

"Meanwhile back on planet Earth," Caroline decided to change the subject, "something happened at work today."

"What?"

"I think the Harrow group donated quarter of a million pounds to the foundation."

"You think?"

"The donation came from Royle and Stone, an investment firm," Caroline said, "but I've seen that name in the files."

"Royle and Stone," he repeated, going over the names of companies associated with the Harrow group that he'd seen in the files, "it certainly seems familiar; we'll check it out when we get home."

"Why do you think they do it?" she asked. "Are they trying to send us a message, to scare us, what?"

"They're showing us that they've done their homework," Richard replied, "but we expected this and it's not like you're pretending to be something you're not."

"I guess even bad guys can use their money to do good," Caroline replied. "How was your day?"

"Darcy called."

"Oh?" Caroline didn't know if she was ready to hear what Darcy and Elizabeth had to say on the subject of her marriage to Richard.

"He was surprised to hear that we'd gotten married."

"Of course he was."

"But he was more miffed that I hadn't told him about it before it happened."

"Oh." She couldn't help herself she had to add, "He probably wondered if you were out of your mind when you married me."

"He asked me if I was happy," Richard said, "and when I told him that I was, he said that he was happy for us."

"Really?"

"Yes," Richard assured her, "and you know Darcy, he'd never say it if he didn't mean it."

Caroline nodded. She knew all about Darcy's penchant for telling the truth – he hated deceit of any sort and one of the surest ways to fall out with him was to start telling him lies and half-truths.

"How about you?" Richard asked. "How you heard from your brother since our wedding?"

"Charles sent me a message," Caroline replied, "I assumed he meant to write congratulations but it read 'cconhtatulayiobs' instead."

"The phone buttons are too small and close to each other," Richard said, "and don't get me started on auto correct."

"It's a nightmare."

000

"My wife can't wait to meet you," Gerald Martin said. "She's just putting some biscuits in the oven but she'll be here as soon as she's done."

"It was nice of you to invite us," Caroline said.

"She's quite a looker," Gerald winked at Richard, "no wonder you married her with such haste."

"I couldn't imagine living another day without her as my wife," Richard replied.

"And everybody can see why," Gina Martin joined them, smiling and giving them air kisses, "she is such a catch."

"Yes she is," Gerald agreed, "it was so fortuitous that she was dumped when she was."

"Gerry, there's no need to be so crude," Gina told her husband. "We were very sorry to hear about that, but we're glad you landed on your feet."

"Yes, we were," Gerald smiled, "come in and meet the others."

000


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much...I hope it doesn't disappoint**

 **000**

000

The room was quiet; Caroline was by herself – the first time she'd been alone since they'd arrived two days ago. The Martins had planned the whole weekend to the last detail; it seemed that there wasn't a minute to be wasted. They'd gone horse riding, swam, climbed hills, played golf and tennis and tonight there was to be a farewell dinner – a barbeque and Caroline had been instructed to go and have a lie-in to prepare for it. She'd protested at first, she didn't like sleeping during the day and never did unless she was sick, and since Caroline had never been sick a day in her adult life, she couldn't even imagine what that was like. Still, Gina was like a force of nature, she couldn't be denied and all the other wives had agreed with her, so they all agreed to have a lie-in for two hours and twenty-three minutes, Gina had calculated the exact time that they would need, and then they were going to have their hair done and get ready for the party.

Caroline looked around the rooms, they had been over them when they had arrived; Richard had wanted to know if they were bugged and he hadn't been able to find any bugs. Later, he'd returned to tell her that while most of the house and the grounds were wired for sound and had surveillance cameras the bedrooms were off-limits. Caroline had been more than relieved to hear that but Richard had warned her that they needed to careful, all the same.

She couldn't sleep and it had only been five minutes since they had been 'ordered' back to their room.

Two hours and eighteen minutes to go.

She picked up a novel – the Martins had an extensive library and they had all been encouraged to get some books to read. At that time Caroline had wondered when they would have the time to read them but now she knew better. She glanced at the title again, _Perfect Wives: Don't be fooled, it takes work_ , and put it down again, Gina had chosen it for her. Probably they would be a session where they would be asked about what they had learnt from the books they had been given.

She was too restless to read. She got up and walked out of the room.

000

Richard was in the man cave with Donald, one of the older men in the group. The others had decided to go back to the tennis court and finish up the game they had begun earlier in the day.

"I was very sorry to hear about Taggert's death," Donald said. "He is going to be missed."

"Yes," Richard agreed. Timothy Taggert was the man from whose family Richard was supposed to come.

"He was so closemouthed," Donald continued, "he kept your existence quiet until just hours before he passed."

"He kept certain things from us as well," Richard shrugged.

"He better," Donald laughed, "we're a society who like to keep our works under covers, so to say, and that my friend is one of the reasons we're so successful at what we do."

"It must be," Richard agreed, "I'd never heard of this whole thing until I got that letter a few days after the funeral."

"That's the way it's done," Donald told him, "although in my case my father took me aside and told me about it before he died. Let me tell you, when he did a lot of things about our lives suddenly made sense to me."

"Really?" Richard was intrigued. "Like what?"

"All the money we had, for one thing, he was just a plumber," Donald said, "the fact that we were all able to go to the right schools, the travel and secret meetings in the house."

"My experience was nothing like that."

"Yes," Donald agreed, "Taggert never had any children of his own and since he had a least four nephews from whom to choose an heir, I guess he felt that it was safer he never talked about it to any of you."

"Not that I'm complaining," Richard said, "this weekend has been one of the best in my life, especially coming so soon after my marriage…you know I really didn't have a honeymoon planned."

"Of course you didn't," Donald laughed, "you hadn't even planned to get married."

"Yes, well," Richard replied, "it's funny how things work out."

"She's a great girl, if you don't mind me calling her that," Donald said, "so poised and gracious, and so right for this bunch."

"I can't help but wonder if I wouldn't have been invited if I hadn't married her," Richard observed.

"Being a Harrow is your birthright," Donald said, "you would have been asked to join whether or not you married Caroline Bingley but your marriage to her certainly tipped the scales in your favour."

"How?"

"You didn't to know the boring details," Donald said, "what matters is that you're here now."

"So is this what we do?" Richard asked, "meet and socialise? The letter was so ominous."

"Meet and socialise?" Donald laughed. "Is that what it seemed like to you? Socialising indeed!"

"Weren't we just getting to know each other?" Richard sounded puzzled.

"This is what I love best about first-meets," Donald said, "and why I am so glad that is finally my turn."

"Your turn?"

"To tell the new member whether he is fit to join our ranks or not."

"Oh."

"Yes," Donald was smiling widely. "Don't tell me you're scared, my good fellow."

"I must say that I am a bit scared," Richard admitted.

"Then let me tell you a little secret," Donald said, "you even beat Gerry and no one's ever done that."

"Beat Gerry? At what? When?"

"What do you think this whole weekend has been about?" Donald asked.

Richard shrugged.

"We were testing you," Donald said, "you can learn a lot about a man based on the way he rides a horse and plays golf."

"So I was being tested?"

"And I'm happy to tell you that you passed," Donald thumped him on the back, "with flying colours."

"Wow."

"I know," Donald continued, "no one ever knows that it's a test until the grade comes in."

"What happens if one doesn't pass?"

"All I can say is that it doesn't end well," Donald said.

"Doesn't end well?"

"A few accidents have been known to happen; you know drunk driving and muggings gone wrong."

"It seems a bit harsh for failing a test you didn't know you were taking," Richard pointed out.

"Rules must be followed," Donald said, "we're nothing without rules."

"What happens to the wife?"

"You're a curious one; I'll give you that," Donald said, "most folks are just happy to know that they've passed."

"Indulge me."

"The last two failures were used to send a message."

"A message?"

"We needed some work done, the sort of work that didn't need people reporting back to tell us the results, and we used them."

"Like a sort of suicide mission?"

"It can't be called suicide if one doesn't know that they're committing suicide, can it?"

"You just sent them to their deaths?" Richard was appalled.

"Not some of our finest moments, I agree," Donald said coldly, "but there was work to be done and we really couldn't use any of the other members."

"I guess it's a good thing that I passed then isn't?"

"Yes, it is."

The two men sat in silence for a while and then Donald stood up to leave. "I think I'll catch that tennis game after all. See you later."

Richard sat in the room for a while and then decided to go for a walk.

000

Caroline leaned against the tree and was surprised to find that she was quite sleepy. Maybe Gina was right, a lie-in was what she had needed.

She closed her eyes.

She didn't know how long she slept but she woke to an uncomfortable feeling. There was someone watching her; she could feel it. She opened her eyes closely and found Richard smiling down at her.

"Hey," he said.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long," he said, "maybe a minute or two."

"Why didn't you wake me immediately?"

"I was just debating whether to wake you or not when you opened your eyes."

"I don't like be watched as I sleep," she said crossly.

"Shh, you don't know who's listening," he teased her.

"I don't care who's listening," she replied, "I don't like being watched as I sleep."

"I wasn't watching you," he said, "I was taking a walk in the grounds and I happened upon you."

"I thought you had a tennis match to finish," she said.

"They had, not me," he told her, "I was being given my grade."

"Huh?"

"Apparently everything we've been doing since we arrived was a test," he said.

"A test?" she yawned softly. "I hope you passed."

"You're lucky I did," he said, "Otherwise we would have been signing ourselves up for a suicide mission without our knowledge."

"I guess I'm not quite awake but I could have sworn you said suicide mission."

"I did."

Caroline would have asked more questions; she did have a lot of questions to ask him about the test and the criteria they had used to tell him that he had passed and what that really meant but she didn't.

What she did instead was stare at him, a small smile on her face.

Richard got onto his knees, he didn't even know that he was doing it, and reached out and touched her face. Slowly he leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her lips. He didn't linger; but pulled away before she really knew what was happening. He breathed in her sweet scent and she opened her eyes to look into his. She had placed her other hand against his chest, over the thudding pulse of his heart.

000

He had kissed her. He had reached for her and kissed her. Caroline didn't know what to think…she was attracted to him. But was wrong with that, he was an attractive man and they were married.

She had never thought of herself as a coward but she knew that she was. Wasn't it cowardly to marry a man one barely knew? Or maybe she was wrong; maybe she was a brave woman. Surely only a brave woman would marry a man she barely knew. What did it matter anyway; coward or brave; she had to admit that she was very attracted to her husband.

She looked up at him to see him staring at her, a stunned expression on his face. He obviously was as surprised as she was. It was adorable, and very endearing that he looked a bit confused, although hopeful.

She hadn't really kissed him back; well not as she would have, the kiss had ended too soon, but she had kissed him back.

000

Richard looked at Caroline, he was sure he could easily see what was on his mind. She hadn't reacted like he'd expected. She hadn't kissed him back immediately, in fact for a second or two, he'd thought that she wouldn't kiss him back but then she had. Honestly, he'd always scoffed at the expressions, weakening of the knees and gladdening of the heart, but that was exactly was had happened. When they had kissed it was like he was at sea, a rough and stormy sea, and she was the only safe anchor.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear her question until she asked it a second time.

"What did you do that for?"

"Does a husband require a reason to kiss his wife?"

"Maybe this wife would like a reason."

Richard looked at her and instead of answering he kissed her again. This time it wasn't unexpected and although tentative at first, they soon both themselves in the pleasure. They were the only two people in the world, the Harrow group and everyone else forgotten. The kiss was sweet and Richard didn't try to deepen it into something more.

When he pulled away, the tenderness in his eyes was unmistakable, and she snuggled against him, feeling safer and more cherished than she had ever been with a man.

They would have stayed there, entwined and content in their own little world but Gerry voice broke in.

"What did I tell you?" he asked the others. "Do I have to be right all the time?"

The others laughed.

"I think you two will be more comfortable in your room," Donald said.

Caroline and Richard didn't reply but stood up holding hands and they made their way back to the house.

000


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much...I hope it doesn't disappoint**

 **000**

"Excuse me, Mrs. Fitzwilliam," Bella was hovering in the doorway, "your husband's here."

Caroline looked up at her assistant, confused, and Bella sensing it added, "you told me that he was going to pick you up at five. Your car's still in the garage."

Caroline nodded slowly. She had forgotten about her car and the fact that Richard had insisted on picking her up although she had told him thrice that it wouldn't be necessary. She saved the file she was working on and smiled at Bella, "tell him I'll be right out."

They had been married for three weeks and it was going well; they were like ideal housemates, sharing meals together and then each of them going about their own business. Richard had actually been away for a week following that weekend at the Martins', and even when he was at home he was always working, sometimes late into the night which is why she'd been surprised when he'd insisted on picking her from work.

Charles and Jane had returned from their honeymoon, and they had invited them to dine later that week and Caroline wasn't looking forward to it. She loved her brother, she really did, but she didn't know if she was ready for any of her family to see her as Mrs. Fitzwilliam.

She picked up her bag and made her way to the door to find Richard about to enter.

"It occurred to me that I'd never actually entered your office," he said, smiling as he made his way past her into the room.

"Actually I didn't think you'd be interested," she replied, "And it is just an office."

He nodded taking in the tasteful décor; he could clearly see that it was a room that Caroline had had a hand in decorating herself. He stopped short when he saw a picture of them on her desk.

"That I didn't expect," he said, picking it up. It was a picture of them in their tennis outfits; it had been taken at the Martins' after a mixed doubles game where they had defeated Damien and Dolores Gainsborough. It occurred to him then that most of the couples they had met that weekend had first names that began with the same letter; he filed that thought aside and looked at Caroline who was smiling sheepishly at him.

"I like that picture," she shrugged, "and we both looked very good in it, we had just won the match _and_ married people always have pictures of their spouses in their offices."

He smiled and shook his head. She somehow always managed to surprise him.

"Shall we go?" she asked him.

000

"You didn't have to pick me up, you know," Caroline told him as they drove home.

"Caro," he said, "we're not having that discussion again. I wanted to."

"Caro?" she asked him.

"I like it," he replied, "I think it suits you better than Caroline."

"I guess it's fine," she said, "I don't think anyone's ever abbreviated my name before. I've always been just Caroline."

"I went through Dick, Dickie, Rick, Rich and Richie at some point in my life," he said.

"And which do you prefer?"

"I've never given it much thought," he said.

"I shall call you Richard," she told him.

"You already call me Richard," he said.

"Exactly," she replied, "I'm not much for abbreviating names and it's a good strong name, nothing to be ashamed of."

Richard laughed. "Good strong name? Nothing to be ashamed of?"

"You know what?" she asked. "This is a completely useless conversation we're having."

000

Caroline didn't cook and she had told Richard that from the beginning. He didn't seem to mind – he loved to cook and had taken care of all the meals. When he had been away, she ordered from nearby restaurants, although she had also begun trying out simple meals. It was tedious always having to order in food, and she was finding that she quite liked being able to cook.

"I thought we would watch a movie tonight," Richard told her after their meal.

Caroline looked at him. They never spent any time together after supper. He was usually too busy. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he replied, "we really ought to spend some time together, we are married after all."

"Don't you have work or something?"

"I always have work," he said, "but I'd like to watch a movie with you tonight."

"Okay," she hadn't watched a movie in a while. "What do you have?"

They finally agreed on an old Joe Pesci one – _My Cousin Vinnie_ – which she'd watched but he never had and they were soon laughing themselves silly. She had forgotten how funny that movie had been.

"I'll make some tea," Caroline said, standing up. "You don't have to wait for me, though." She needed some air.

Richard, however, paused the movie and waited until she'd settled back down to play it again.

000

"I guess I better head to bed," Caroline said standing up, the movie had ended and the credits were rolling up.

He eyed her a second and then stood up, "I guess it is goodnight, then."

She forced a smile and nodded.

They stood in the middle of the sitting room looking at each awkwardly, or so it seemed to Caroline. They were adults, grown up, and married at that. They didn't need to be any awkwardness between them. As she watched him, he swallowed, he probably wanted to say something but he didn't, instead he just continued looking at her.

000

Richard looked at Caroline, his wife, and wondered what it was about her that made him feel like an unsure schoolboy. He'd had girlfriends before and actually lived with a woman for two weeks – it had been a mistake, and after that he'd vowed never to do it again, but being with Caroline was harder than he'd thought it would be. He knew that he was attracted to her, but then she was very attractive and he wanted their marriage to be real in every sense but he was afraid of making the first move.

Okay, he didn't want to make a move unless he was sure it was what she wanted too.

He thought of closing the space in between them and lowering his head to hers and brushing his lips with hers but didn't. Sure, they'd kissed before but now it would be different and he was sure that he wouldn't want it to end just there, so he forced himself to remain where he was.

What was wrong with him? A kiss was just that. A kiss. It meant nothing and he could kiss his wife goodnight without there being anymore to it. Couldn't he?

He could, he told himself. They would say goodnight to each other, like they always did and they would go to their separate bedrooms and that would be the end of that. Somehow that thought thoroughly depressed him.

000

Caroline stared at Richard. What was wrong with her? She had already said goodnight and it was time for her to go to her room and sleep yet somehow she found herself unable to move.

She wondered what Richard would do if she took the half step and closed the distance between them and pulled him down and kissed him. He'd probably think she was mad. She had entered this marriage with her eyes open; it was just a means for Richard to get into the Harrow group and also to help to salvage some dignity and not to become happy families.

He wasn't even the kind of man she was normally attracted to. For one thing he was too tall and well…open. He didn't brood and have to be coaxed into speech but was always willing to take part in any and all activities, and really he wasn't even classically good-looking with his broken-and-not-quite-healed nose, yet here she was thinking of kissing him. It was really too much.

It was his fault really. He was a very touchy-feely person, always reaching for her hand, hugging her and even walking arm-in-arm with her. Caroline didn't really like to be touched, certainly if she hadn't initiated it, but somehow she was getting very used to Richard's touches.

She looked down at the floor and then looked up again at him, a soft smile on her face, and then she turned to walk out of the room.

000

Richard looked at Caroline.

She was going to leave the room; he could sense it and he felt almost panicked. As if letting her leave meant that he was going to lose her, to never see her again, which was ridiculous.

He reached out and grabbed her arm causing her to stop.

She looked at him.

"Richard?" she asked him softly.

He stared at her. Her dark hair was still in the chignon she had put it in in the morning, although a few tendrils had escaped and were lying against her cheeks. Her face seemed flushed and she was biting her lip, seeming nervous, which was very uncharacteristic of Caroline. But she looked beautiful.

"Caro," he began and stopped, he had no idea what to say to her. Instead, taking both her hands in his and turned her to face him properly.

"Richard," she said again, softly. "We need to t…"

He shook his head, and instead gently let go of one of her hands and placed it on her shoulder. They stood there face-to-face and he leaned in a little towards her. He could see the flecks in her green eyes, and he could also see uncertainty and something like terror in them.

"Caro? Is something wrong?" he asked her gently. There was no reason for her to be terrified unless something had happened. Something he knew nothing about.

She shook her head silently. There was no way she could tell him about the thoughts running around in her mind. She didn't need to burden him with her feelings.

Richard sensed that she was about to pull back again. He could feel her withdrawing from him and he couldn't let her. He decided that it's now or never. They would get this, whatever it was, out in the open and deal with it.

Caroline looked at Richard. She had been called many things in her life but a coward had never been one of them. She was going to tell him the truth and if he didn't feel the same way she would just go to her room and sleep.

"Richard," she told him, breathlessly, "I want this."

And she reached up, on her toes, and touched her lips to his.

000

Richard turned over in the bed and faced his wife. He couldn't believe that it had been one night yet he couldn't imagine how he had ever woken up without her by his side. He couldn't help himself, he reached out and touched her and then he kissed her.

She murmured sleepily, "I love you," and pulled the covers closer.

He squinted at the clock; it was still early; they plenty of time before they had to get up. He pulled her closer and closed his eyes.

000


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much.**

"Would you just relax?"

Jane straightened the throw pillow and turned to her husband. "I don't even know why I'm so nervous. It's just your sister coming over."

"And her husband," Bingley reminded her.

Jane sat down and looked at Bingley. "I can only imagine how hurt she must have been on our wedding day."

"To be fair to Darcy he'd never really shown any interest in her," Bingley said.

"But she was in love with him," Jane told him, "and she must have been out of her mind if she married his cousin the next day."

"You think she substituted Richard for Darcy?"

"Don't you?" Jane asked him. "Maybe in her mind one was as good as the other."

"No." Charles shook his head.

"Charles, I know she's your sister," Jane told him gently, "But can there be another reason for their hasty marriage?"

"Caroline's a bit cold and unfeeling sometimes, I admit," Charles told her, "but she's one of the most rational people I have ever known. She wouldn't have just married Richard because he's Darcy's cousin."

"Do you think it was love at first sight, then?"

Charles burst out laughing. "Janie, dear, even you can't think that. Besides, the wedding wasn't the first time they met."

"Yes, but it could have been the first time they ever really saw each other," she said, "and you've watched the video and seen the photos, they did spend most of the reception together."

"And what? Decided that they couldn't live without each other? That they had to get married the next day?"

"I don't know," Jane admitted, "And it is likely that we'll never know the truth but I do hope that they are happy with each other at least."

"That's the best that we can hope for, really."

"I must admit that I was a bit worried," Jane said.

"Worried? About what?"

"Living here with Caroline."

"Ah."

"I mean, this is her home as much as it's yours," Jane explained, "And more so because she was the one who was actually in charge of its running and everything. It would not have been easy for her to let go and hand me the reins, so I was worried about how that would all work out."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that now, but anyway, I doubt she would have stayed even if she hadn't gotten married, knowing Caroline as I do, she would have found herself a house."

"I guess we can't accuse her of getting married to find a home, can we?" Jane joked.

"No," Charles laughed. "She wouldn't marry just to get a house; she can afford to buy one for herself."

"So, maybe she does love Richard," Jane said.

"We'll see for ourselves soon enough, won't we?"

Jane stood up and looked around the room, again. "I do hope she likes the changes I've made to the house."

"It's your house now," Charles reminded her, "you can do what you like with it."

"I know," Jane replied, "but she has such good taste and I don't want to make the house ugly just because I'm trying to put my stamp on it."

"I like what you've done."

"What have I done?" she was sure he hadn't even noticed.

"You got new pillows and rugs, and artwork," Bingley told promptly, "and moved some of the furniture around. You didn't think I'd noticed, did you?"

"No," she kissed him on the cheek.

"That should teach you to underestimate me," he said, "besides you like golds and yellows while Caroline was always into greens, so the different is noticeable and I like it."

"I'll go check on the fish," Jane said as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Caroline doesn't cook," Bingley reminded her, "And she's just visiting not here to judge your housekeeping abilities."

"Thanks, dear."

000

Caroline was staring at the mirror without really seeing her reflection. She was thinking about the dinner they were about to attend. She wasn't quite up to seeing Jane and Charles yet. Added to which she wasn't quite happy with the fact that she'd slipped and told Richard that she loved him, she hadn't been ready for _that_ to come out; when he tried to bring it up she'd pretended that she couldn't remember and honestly who could remember what they'd said when they were half asleep. Richard had let it slide but she knew that they were going to discuss soon.

"Earth to Caro," Richard's voice brought her back. He was leaning against the bathroom door looking at her.

"Do we really have to go?"

"Yes, my dear, we do," Richard told her. "It's your brother and besides you already accepted the invitation."

"They're going to be wondering why we got married when we did," Caroline pointed out.

"They're already wondering about that," Richard told her.

"They've just returned from their honeymoon, can't they give themselves some time to settle in first?"

"Your brother, I'm sure, would have been here for the wedding if he could," Richard said, "he's just looking out for you. We should just be grateful that they didn't insist on coming here instead."

"They'd never do that." Caroline told him.

"Besides," Richard added, "I'm sure Jane is feeling bad because she knows that she took your place in the household and wants to make sure that you're fine."

"You really think so?" Caroline hadn't thought about Jane's feelings at all.

"Caroline, you were the woman of that house for so long, it's really more yours than your brother's," Richard said, "now she's taken over and she's probably wondering if that is why you got married to me."

"Really?" Caroline looked at him, and couldn't help asking again, "you think so?"

"I have sisters," Richard told her, "And I work with a lot of women, not to mention my own mother, I know so."

"You know I never even thought about where I was going to live until we got married," Caroline admitted. "I guess I'd hoped that the problem would sort itself out when the time came," she sighed, "I guess it did in a way."

"Of course it did."

"Aren't you the least bit worried that they're going to look at us and wonder why we got married in such haste?"

"No," he admitted, "I know they're going to wonder, but we know why we're married and we're happy."

"I don't know."

"We're going," Richard smiled at her, walked over to her and dropped a kiss on her forehead, "if only to see the changes she's made to the house."

"Oh," Caroline brightened, "I wonder if she got rid of the hideous painting of Great Aunt Cathy. I always wanted to go rid of it."

"Why didn't you?"

"To win of course," Caroline laughed softly, "Charles bet me a hundred pounds every year that I would get rid of it so of course I didn't."

"Now we really have to go and find out."

She smiled at him and when to get a shawl from the closet.

000

The dinner was a success. Bingley and Richard got on very well, and both being men who easily got into conversation on any number of topics there was no lull in the conversation and it was easy and fun. After a false start on Jane and Caroline's part, the two women soon found a topic they could both enjoy – Charles, and then of course Jane took Caroline around the house to show her the changes she'd made. Surprisingly, Caroline approved of Jane's choices, although she wasn't much for yellows and golds but she had to admit that the house looked good.

"What about Great Aunt Cathy's painting?" Caroline asked. They were in the smaller sitting room where it used to hang.

"Oh, that," Jane said a little defensively, "Honestly, I know she's your aunt and all, but it clashed with everything in the room." The smaller sitting room was the one in which Jane had done the most work, so far. "I had to move it. I took it to one of the spare bedrooms."

Caroline laughed.

"You're not mad?"

"No," Caroline continued laughing, "I've never really liked it."

"But you gave it pride of place," Jane was a bit confused; "I thought it was important to you."

"Oh, it is," Caroline told her, "I made so much money out off of it."

"Huh?"

"Charles would bet me each time I redecorated, which was quite often, I get bored easily, that I would get rid of it or at the very least move it out of this room," Caroline explained, "so of course it had to remain exactly where it was."

"No wonder, Charles was very excited when I said I was moving it," Jane said, suddenly a lot of things made sense.

"I'm sure he was," Caroline said.

Jane eyed her sister-in-law, thinking for the first time that maybe she and Caroline would be able to get along after all. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking that you should make Charles pay," Caroline said, "then yes I am."

They smiled at each other.

000

"You seem happy," Richard said.

"Dinner was fun," Caroline said, "and maybe Jane and I will become …friends or at least friendly sometime soon. She really loves Charles and he's happy with her."

"Yes, they are happy," Richard agreed. "And they didn't ask why we married in haste."

"I told you they wouldn't," Caroline reminded him, "they're both too nice to do that."

000

"So what it as bad as you thought it would be?" Charles asked Jane. The two of them were in each other's arms, swaying slowly to the soft music that was playing in the room.

"No," Jane admitted, "it was fun, I'm glad we had them over."

"They seemed happy," Charles pointed out.

"They _are_ happy," Jane corrected him, "did you notice how the kept touching each other?"

"I did," Charles nodded slowly.

"I guess they do love each other," Jane said.

"They do," Charles said, he was not generally known to be an observant man, but he had seen the way Richard looked at Caroline, and he knew. That man loved his sister very much.

"They must have fallen in love on our wedding day," Jane said. "How romantic."

"I don't know about all that," Charles said, "but whatever their reasons for marrying then, they love each other now."

"I was thinking about the smaller sitting room," Jane changed the subject, "and I thought I might redecorate it."

"Haven't you just done that?"

"I have," she smiled, "but it just occurred to me that maybe paintings would suit better than the batiks that I put in."

"Paintings?" he murmured into her neck.

"Family portraits to be exact," she told him.

"I think that's marvelous idea."

"There's this rather interesting painting of an elderly woman wearing a blue dress that I had taken to one of the spare rooms," she said, "what do you think? Wouldn't it just be perfect above the fireplace?"

"I'm sure anything you choose will be perfect," he replied.

"I'll put it back before I sleep tonight," she said.

Bingley raised his head slowly, what she had said just sinking in, and asked her, "a woman in a blue dress, you said?"

"I think she has such presence," Jane told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "I believe there are plenty of other family portraits around the house."

"Do you something against the poor woman?"

"No," Bingley said, "nothing at all."

000


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much.**

Caroline hurried quickly down the stairs. She was late for the meeting and she hated being late. She glanced at her watch and saw that she already almost twenty minutes late and she hadn't even entered the car yet. It was a fifteen drive, on a good day; there was no way she was going to make it.

Her phone rang and she slowed a bit to answer it.

"Hi, Gina," she said, "what a surprise."

"I know," Gina replied, "I am in the city and I wondered if we could meet for lunch."

"I can't," Caroline told her, "I have a meeting."

"I know," Gina said, "I thought that I would find you here but Reynolds told me that you were running late today."

Caroline slowed to a stop. "You're at my meeting?"

"I dropped by," Gina said, "to see how you were, to catch up."

"Really?"

"You're wondering how I knew that about the meeting, aren't you?" Gina laughed. "The fundraising world is so small and Linda can't keep her mouth shut about anything."

"Linda?"

"Reynolds' first wife," Gina replied, "we're old friends."

"I see," Caroline hadn't known about Reynolds' first wife; she didn't even know that he was married. "I have to meet with Mr. Reynolds, we have an important event next month and we've hardly done any preparation."

"The Summerton do," Gina said. "I know. I talked to Reynolds and we arranged everything; he's not expecting you anymore and I'm sure he's going to call and tell you that soon."

As if on cue, Caroline's phone alerted her to an incoming call and she saw Mr. Reynolds name flashing. "Hang on," she told Gina, "he's calling now."

"You talk to him," Gina said, "I'm coming over to your office now to pick you up."

000

"She just showed up at your office?"

"She called and said she was coming," she corrected him. She eyed Richard. "You seem worried."

"I didn't think they would be trying to get in touch with you."

"Maybe it's not related to Harrow business at all," Caroline suggested, "maybe she just wants to be friends."

"Maybe," he conceded but he didn't sound sure at all.

" _I'm_ a good friend," Caroline told him, "ask any of my friends."

"I'm sorry," he apologised at once, "I didn't mean to imply that you can't be a friend. Although now that I think about it; I have yet to meet any of your friends."

"I haven't any of your friends either," Caroline told him, "do you even have any?"

"Of course I do."

Caroline just watched him her smile becoming wider and wider.

"Alright," he said, "but Gina and Gerry are joined at the hip so I think Gerry must know about it."

"So what?" she shrugged, "we just had lunch and talked about the puppies."

"Puppies?" he was surprised. "Honestly, I never pictured her as a dog person."

000

"Did you get in touch with her?"

Gina turned to Gerry. "You know I did. It was what you ordered me to do, after all. She must think I'm nuts."

"Who cares what she thinks?"

"I do," Gina told him, "I actually like Caroline."

"So do I," Gerry reminded her, "I like them both very much but we can't take any chances."

"I thought you had checked them out thoroughly?"

"We did, we have," he replied, "but one more test can't hurt, can it?"

"What are you going to do?" she asked, at his look she added, "and don't tell me that you can't tell me."

"We're going to see what she does about Reynolds," he said after a short pause.

"Reynolds?"

"He's one of their biggest donors," Gerry explained, "he's a hard man although but his grandmother likes the Bingley foundation and Charles and Caroline."

"So?"

"Did you read through the documents I asked you to give him?"

"No," Gina replied, "they weren't mine and as you recall you specifically asked me not to."

"Fine, don't get testy;" he said his tone softening, "we just changed some of the terms."

"You want to see how she'll respond."

"Donald came up with it," Gerry explained. "You know how much he likes mind games."

Gina nodded and hoped that Caroline would pass the test, whatever it was. She had meant she'd said earlier. She really liked her, she was the sort of person they needed in their group.

000

"Give me that," Caroline made as if to grab the shopping bag that Richard was peering into but he held it above her head. Why did he have to be so tall?

"What is it?" he asked. "And more importantly why don't you want me to see what it is?"

"It's just something I picked up at lunch today," she said, "now give it to me."

"You went shopping with Gina?" he seemed surprised, "now I really have to see what's inside."

"Okay," she sighed, he was never going to let it go, "go ahead."

Richard put the bag down and pulled out a skimpy outfit in bold gold and reds. "Is this what I think it is?"

"If you think it's a Scheherazade costume, then yeah, you're right?"

"It's amazing," he said, "but why do you have it?"

"After we finished talking about puppies, she says she's thinking of getting some and a cat as well, she said that they were going to have a costume party in a few weeks' time and that we should get our costumes."

"Try it on," he suggested.

"No."

"Come on," he insisted. "Let me see. I bet it looks amazing."

"I wouldn't know," she said, "I haven't tried it on yet."

"Now you really should try it on," he said, "if it doesn't fit you'll have to return it, I say the earlier you know the better."

"You'll just say anything to get me into that outfit, won't you?"

"You're the one who bought it."

"I can't believe I let her talk me into doing that," Caroline shook her head. "You know how careful I am about unnecessary spending."

"I wouldn't call this unnecessary," he told her. "The outfit looks great I can only imagine how good you'd look in it."

"What do you think she really wanted?"

'If I answer, will you try it on?"

"Yes." She took the outfit from him.

"I don't know," he replied, "but if, as I imagine, Gerry had something to do with it, then it can't be good."

Caroline pulled on the skirt and went to the ensuite bathroom to change into the costume. She looked at herself in the mirror, smiling slowly, it really did look good. Richard's eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

"Do you think they're still -?" the rest of the words Richard had been going to say stuck in his mouth. She looked amazing.

"Still what?" she asked him.

"Wow," he breathed at last, and pulled her to him, "you even look better than I imagined you would. Definitely not an unnecessary expense." He began to drop kisses on her neck.

"Still what?" she forced herself to ask again. She needed to ask before they forgot what they were talking about.

"…uhm, test," Richard said between kisses.

000

"So you were saying something about a test?"

"You're still going on about that?"

'Yes," Caroline said, sitting up in the bed, "Didn't you say that Donald liked tests a lot?"

"Yes, I did," Richard replied, "but if you remember I also told you that they said we had passed all the tests."

"What if it's another one?" she insisted, "a real life test?"

"Tell me exactly what happened," he suggested, "and let's try and find out."

"She went for your meeting?" Richard had been rolling her hair idly around his fingers as he listened to her speak but now he sat up as well.

"Yes, didn't I mention this?"

"No," he said, "you didn't."

"It did strike me as odd," she said, "but then we went costume shopping and I quite forgot all about it."

"What did they discuss?"

"I haven't gone through the documents that Reynolds' sent over later in the afternoon," she said, "I just put them on my desk and left."

"Good."

"Good?"

"If they're in your office then they can't interrupt the rest of our evening, can they?"

"No," she smiled wickedly at him, "no they can't."

000


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much.**

 **000**

Caroline followed Gina into the restaurant; Gina had called her the evening before and asked her to join her for lunch, she had said that there was something important that they had to discuss. Caroline wasn't worried – she didn't think that Gina was going to try to kill her or even have her kidnapped but she'd had to stop Richard from making her wear a wire, she still wasn't sure that he hadn't had her followed but she had assured him that she could handle whatever Gina threw at her and she was wearing the jewelry with the trackers that Matthew had given her.

"I didn't know that we were meeting everybody," Caroline said, when she noticed that Dolores, Maxine, Betty and Rita were already seated at the table in the restaurant.

"I thought it would nice for us girls to catch up," Gina said, "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not."

They sat down and within a few minutes the food was brought to the table.

"I ordered for all of you," Dolores said, "I know what you like and I didn't want us to waste time waiting for the food to come, but feel free to ask for something else, if you're happy with my choice."

They all agreed that the food she'd ordered for them was fine. The talk during the meal was mainly about their children – all of them apart from Maxine and Caroline had children, and they talked about their schools and the upcoming holidays.

"So, are you and Richard thinking of starting a family soon?" Dolores turned to Caroline.

"Actually, we haven't even talked about it," Caroline replied.

"I wouldn't worry about it if I was you," Betty told her, "You're both young and healthy."

"And if you can't have children it's not a problem as well," Maxine said, "Malcolm and I are quite happy."

"But you have to think about the future," Dolores said, "morbid though it may be."

"I think it's too early for them to think about successors," Gina said, "they are mere babies compared to us."

"Richard has nephews doesn't he?" Dolores asked, "Which settles the matter to my way of thinking."

"You must be wondering about us," Maxine said to Caroline, "we've tried all means, conventional and not, but we finally learned to live with the fact that we'll never have children of our own and we decided not to adopt. Besides, we both come from large families and there is no shortage of males, in fact, Mal has begun to mentor one of our nephews."

"Not that that is really even necessary," Betty said, "look at you and Richard, you only found out about Harrow after Taggert's death and yet here you are, one of us already."

"Can I ask you a question?" Caroline asked them.

"You don't have to ask," Gina patted her hand, "just ask your question."

"It's about your names," Caroline said.

"You mean the fact that we and our spouses all have first names that begin with the same letter, don't you?" Betty interrupted, laughing.

"Yes," Caroline nodded, "it's a bit strange, isn't it?"

"Not strange," Maxine contradicted her, "not really."

"People find it hard to believe," Gina said, "but it just happened, none of us planned it but you have to admit it's pretty cool. A pity it didn't happen like that for you and Richard."

"So, how are the plans with Reynolds coming along?" Betty changed the subject.

"He sent over the documents with the plans and ideas that Gina had suggested," Caroline replied, somehow she managed not to show her shock, "and I think they're very good. We're going to use them."

"That's good," Dolores said, "now I don't have to fire the caterer."

"You already hired a caterer?" Caroline asked.

"I hope you don't mind," Maxine said, "Gina told us about the fundraiser, and we're all committed to improving the education system in our area and since one of us is in charge of the project we thought we should get involved. Help a sister out, so to speak."

"That's great," Caroline said. "I can use all the help I can get."

"See, Betty," Dolores said, "it's alright." She turned to Caroline, "Betty was concerned that you would think we were overstepping our bounds."

"It's fine Betty," Caroline told her, "that's what friends do… look out for each other."

"That's settled then," Gina said, "now onto the costume party."

000

"Caroline, I thought that was you."

Caroline stopped; she'd been hurrying to her car, the lunch had finally come to an end. "Elizabeth," she told the other woman. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Elizabeth told her. "Congratulations on your recent nuptials."

"I wouldn't call them recent," Caroline said, "you and I have been married for the same amount of time."

"Give or take a few hours," Elizabeth couldn't help saying and seeing Caroline's face darken she apologised, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Caroline shrugged, "you and I never did see eye to eye before there's no reason why we should now."

"Except that now we're related by marriage," Elizabeth pointed out.

"We still would have been that even if I hadn't married Richard," Caroline reminded her.

"That is true."

"I have to get going now," Caroline would have begun walking again but Elizabeth's words stopped her.

"I didn't know that you knew Gina Martin."

"We met recently," Caroline said.

"She's not a very nice person," Elizabeth told her, "trust me."

"Like you trusted me when I warned you about Wickham?"

"That wasn't one of my finest moments," Elizabeth conceded, "but to be fair, you didn't actually accuse him of anything more than being the son of old Mr. Darcy's foreman."

"I told you what I had been told by Darcy, I thought it would have been enough," Caroline said.

"Like I said," Elizabeth smiled thinly, "not my finest moment."

"You thought I was just being malicious," Caroline said, "Trying to ruin your moment."

"Isn't that what you were trying to do?"

"I never liked you," Caroline admitted, "but I was honestly trying to warn you off Wickham, I still don't know exactly what he did but from the way Darcy talks about him, I wouldn't wish him on my worst enemy."

"So trust me when I tell you that Gina Thatcher was a very bad person and I don't think she improved when she got married," Elizabeth said.

"I met Gina through her husband who works with Richard," Caroline said, "but thanks for the heads-up."

"I didn't know that Gerry worked at Summerton Prep," Elizabeth said, "I thought he was an antiquities dealer."

"I honestly don't know what he does," Caroline said.

"He probably wanted to meet to you," Elizabeth said, "to try and access some of the Bingley foundation funds."

"You may be right," Caroline said.

"Just be careful," Elizabeth warned her, "I've heard some very nasty things about the Martins."

"Thanks for the warning," Caroline told her, "but it was just lunch and I have the situation under control."

"I should let you get back to the office," Elizabeth said.

"Yes," Caroline forced a smile, "it wasn't as bad running into you as I thought it would be."

"See you around, Caroline."

"You too, Elizabeth."

000

Richard opened the door and let himself into the house; it had been a long day – he hadn't even found time to get something to eat and he was really hungry. The delightful smell of chilli filled the house and he followed it to the kitchen.

Caroline was standing in the kitchen, obviously fresh from the bathroom, rumpled, and dressed in jeans and a shirt that had obviously seen better days. And she was stunning.

She smiled at him. "I decided to try a more complicated dish."

"It smells great," he told her.

"It should be ready in about 15 minutes," she told him.

"I'll go and change," he said.

000

"On a scale of 1 to 10 how awkward was it running into Elizabeth?" Richard asked her. They were finishing their meal.

"Who told you about that?" she hadn't intended to talk to him about that.

"She told Darcy who called me," Richard said.

"And they say women are the ones who can't keep secrets."

"It wasn't a secret," Richard said, "and given your history with Elizabeth you can't fault us for being a little worried."

"You thought we would fight in the parking of one of the most prominent restaurants in town?"

"Not fight exactly," Richard shrugged, "I thought it would be a bit awkward, Darcy obviously thought so too."

"It was fine," Caroline said, "we caught up and stuff."

"Caught up and stuff?"

"She warned me about the Martins," Caroline admitted, "said that they were very bad people."

"How does she know them?"

"I didn't ask," Caroline said, "I didn't want her to ask me anymore questions about what I was doing with Gina; she'd already asked me how I knew Gina and I don't think my answer was very convincing."

"Darcy asked me when Gerry Martin had started working with me, at Summerton."

"What did you tell him?"

"That Gerry doesn't work at the school but he had shown up at a work party," Richard shrugged, "he seemed to accept it."

"You probably don't know this about me, I like keeping things very close to the chest," she laughed, "but I don't like having to lie to people."

"It doesn't get any easier," he assured her, "but hopefully we won't have to do it for much longer."

"So you've made progress with Harrow group?"

"If all goes according to plan, we're going to put a very big dent in their finances by week's end."

"Do I want to know the details?"

" _I_ don't know them either," he said.

Richard began to clear up the dishes, while Caroline put away the wine bottle.

"I think it was probably a 12," Caroline said.

"That bad, eh?" he quipped.

"Honestly I had this unrealistic hope that I would never see Darcy and Elizabeth again," Caroline said.

"Caro."

"I'm over him," she assured him, "totally and I do love you more than I ever thought I'd ever love anybody but when I remember some of the things I did and said I don't even want to leave the house."

"It can't be that bad," Richard tried to reassure her.

"It's worse than bad," Caroline told him.

"We'll get through it," he said. "Together."

"At least the first meeting is over," Caroline said, "I don't have to dread it anymore."

"You were dreading it?" he was incredulous.

"You don't know me as well as you think you do," she joked.

"I know you better than you think I do," he retorted.

"We're not going to start the whole 'I know you better than you know me' thing again, are we?"

"Not if you just agree that I know you better than you know me and we get done with it," he said.

"I have some reports that I have to go through before I sleep," she said, "so I'll be in the study."

"I have some work to do as well," he said, "I'll join you in a few minutes.

"Richard, I'm serious," she said, "I have to work."

"Me too."

"So you're won't try to distract me with your singing?"

"I have work," he repeated, "no singing I promise."

"Okay."

"I don't know about dancing though."

000


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much.**

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR. I hope it's been great so far…**

000

Caroline parked the car, locked it and made her way towards the building. It was a red brick building, thin, four storeys high. It had an elaborate gable crowning its face. It had large windows on either side of the impressive front door, and rows of windows above, decreasing in size at each floor until the last one at the top set directly beneath the gable.

She stared at it. It was quite an unexpected sight but it was quite interesting; she could see why Reynolds had insisted that she see it. He was probably running late but she had set out earlier than expected, they had guests for dinner that evening and she had some last minute details to take care of.

"I'm sorry," Reynolds told her a few minutes later. "Something came up and I had to deal with it. This is Miranda, my assistant."

Caroline smiled at the younger woman.

"Let's go in and check it out," Reynolds said, "you're going to love it. It's full of passages and stairs in unexpected places and odd little rooms; I think the children will especially love it."

"It sounds very interesting," Caroline agreed, and followed him into the building. About three feet from the front door was an inner door that led to hall, a narrow corridor that stretched endlessly before them, it had a wood-paneled floor and there were paintings on the wall.

"We'll start at the top," Reynolds said, "walk our way downwards." He led them up a staircase that started from the middle of the hall.

"So what do you think?" They had walked through the house and gardens.

"I think it will work very well," Caroline said, "the children will love it."

"So will the adults," Miranda pointed out, "they'll certainly enjoy it more."

"That's settled then," Reynolds said. "Let's go back and get started on the actual work."

"We'll have the ramp set before the big do," Miranda said, answering Caroline's earlier query about the handicapped access, "and don't worry, even in a house this old we will be able to make it work and very tastefully too."

"Okay."

"You wanted to check out the bathrooms," Miranda reminded her, she opened a door on the second floor, "there are through here."

000

Caroline lifted her head; it was heavy, and tried to open her eyes. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was entering the bathrooms and then darkness. Where was Reynolds? She tried to speak but couldn't.

000

"Did you have to hit her so hard?" Reynolds asked Miranda.

"No, I didn't," Miranda smiled at him, "I didn't have to hit her at all but she was so annoying, all that perfect skin and hair. Did you see her shoes? I bet they're very expensive."

Reynolds didn't reply; he hadn't signed up for any of this. What had Lucy gotten him into? Seeing again, last week after almost three years had an unpleasant shock and then her asking…forcing him to go with Miranda for the Caroline Bingley meeting. He had refused outright, of course, this was his business and nothing to do with her and that was when she'd brought up his little problem with medication. She hadn't actually threatened him, she was too clever for that but he knew that if he didn't take Miranda along with him he'd probably be out of a job and a home soon. He hadn't asked what they wanted with Caroline; he wanted no part of that.

"She must have told someone that was meeting with me," he said. "I'll be one of the first people they ask."

"Don't worry," Miranda smiled nastily, "that's all taken care of."

"Taken care of?" he swallowed.

"As far as everyone else is concerned, you met with Caroline and after your meeting, you both went home."

He nodded although he really didn't understand.

"And besides," Miranda continued, "you and Ethel and going to the Bahamas this evening for that second honeymoon you've always wanted."

000

Caroline looked around the room. It was filthy and smelled dreadful; she obviously wasn't at Treeton Place anymore. She stood up slowly, looked up and almost fell down again. There was a gaping hole where the ceiling should have been.

Caroline wanted to burst into tears but she knew that crying wasn't going to help her get of that room. She began to carefully walk around, there was bound to be a way out. She was certain – almost – that she had fallen into that room, someone had put her there which meant that they must have had a way to get in and out; she just had to find it.

000

"Did you take care of it?" Donald asked.

"Reynolds and wife number two are in the air as we speak," Miranda replied.

"Who cares about Reynolds?" Donald had to fight to keep his voice calm, "what about Caroline?"

"I threw her in the condemned building on Edger's road. Nobody will ever find her, trust me."

"You mean you dumped her body in a condemned building on Edger's road, don't you?" The building was going to be demolished in a few hours' time but he had hoped that Miranda would do a better job than that.

"Oh no," Miranda replied, "she was still alive when I threw her there."

"What?"

"I know, you wanted me to kill her," Miranda pouted, "but that seemed too easy, I figured she deserved to suffer, to know that she was going to die."

Donald thought of some many things, questions actually, that he wanted to ask Miranda; he wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled, to beat her up. She had been asked to do one thing only and she had failed. He supposed he could always shoot her right now but instead he stood up and left the room. He was not a man prone to regret but now he wished that he had listened to Gerry and Gina; they had said that it was premature to get rid of Caroline. Well, it was too late for that now. There were loose ends to take care of. He had work to do.

000

Caroline found some broken furniture and tried to stand on it but it was no use. She was in the middle of the room and there were too many things for her to wade through to get to the walls.

She couldn't believe the Reynolds had set up like this but then she hadn't really known him that well. Maybe he'd always been part of the Harrow Group and this was just another assignment to him.

She thought of Richard who had had business in Barcelona that day but had promised to be home in time for dinner. They hadn't really spoken in the morning before he'd left, apart from the usual greeting and wishes for a pleasant day. She thought of her sister Rebecca and her husband Ben who were supposed to be dining with them that evening. Of her parents, of Charlie and Jane, of Matthew and Nina, they would probably never know what had happened to her.

 _Get a grip_ , she told herself. _You're not dead yet._

She began to move the furniture and tiles that were nearest to her. She would die fighting.

000

Richard parked the car and was surprised to see that Caroline's car wasn't there. He was a bit early but he had thought she'd be at home already especially since they had guests that evening.

He called her but the call went straight to voice mail. He knew that he was probably being paranoid but he called the office and asked them to track her phone.

"She's still at work," Jon, the technician, teased him, "don't worry, she'll be home soon."

Richard laughed but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong.

000

"Matthew, shut down that computer," Nina told her husband. His habit of checking in on their children and grandchildren every two weeks annoyed her no end. Matthew had given all his children and grandchildren gifts with trackers hidden in them. 'To ensure their safety,' he'd told Nina when she'd protested. 'Why don't you just call them?' she'd argued, 'like a normal person.'

"One sec," he replied. He was about to close the laptop and join Nina in the kitchen when he noticed something. He sat down again and began to type furiously.

"Matthew!"

"Nina, come here," he shouted at her.

Nina walked into the study ready to shout at Matthew but the look on his face stopped her. "What is it?"

"It's Caroline," he replied. He pointed at the screen. There were two dots separated by at least four miles for her. "Either she lost her earrings or she's in serious trouble."

000


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks for the support - the reviews, for reading, adding to favorites and following. thank you very much.**

000

Richard gazed unseeingly at the street below him. What was taking them so long? He really should have insisted on going with them.

Mr. Thompson, Tommy, the head of their section, looked the three of them in silence. He had given them as much explanation as he could. He supposed that he would have to give them more, especially, when they saw Caroline, but for now he knew that they would wait until they were sure that she was safe.

His whole plan had almost backfired; he hadn't factored in Donald Farthington's ambition and how far he was willing to go to get what he wanted. Luckily, that same ambition was the reason why most of the members of the Harrow group were now under arrest. In fact, Donald was the only one who hadn't yet been taken in, but it was just a matter of time… by Mr. Thompson's estimation he had only about fifteen minutes and then it would be over.

He had been alarmed when he had received Nina's call asking about Caroline's whereabouts, although thinking about it now, he shouldn't have been surprised. He had known Matthew for over thirty years; Matthew always looked out for his family. Luckily, Matthew was also a reasonable man and he had got Richard to listen to him and not go after Caroline on his own.

000

Richard heard his mother speak, she'd probably asked Tommy something, but he didn't bother to turn around. He had just hung up on Jon when his father had called to tell him about Caroline and Richard's world had tilted on its axis. He couldn't imagine going on without her in his life. They had asked him to wait for them to arrive and although he'd wanted to refuse he'd had little choice, he didn't know where Caroline was and his father wouldn't tell him until they met. The thirty minutes' drive between their homes seemed to take hours but when they arrived he realised that they had taken even less than that.

It had taken his mother asking him thrice before he remembered that they were supposed to be having guests for dinner and he had called Rebecca to cancel, he couldn't even remember what he'd said but he had even managed a laugh and his parents had looked at him like he was crazy so it must have made sense. He supposed it was his training that had taken over because, of course, he'd lost people, he was a soldier after all, but he had never been as scared as he was now.

He couldn't lose Caroline. Not now. Especially not because of a stupid thing like this. According to Tommy, the Harrow group hadn't found out that he and Caroline were not who they said they were, Richard had thought that that was why they'd tried to kill Caroline. It turned out that the higher-ups of the group, whom he'd never met had actually like them and had wanted to take over the operations in England… not right away of course but having Caroline Bingley as part of their group was a big coup that would open major doors for them.

This news had apparently angered Donald Farthington; he was supposed to have that job. He was better qualified, and had worked hard to get where he was, and so he and the Martins had come up with a plan to get rid of Caroline and Richard except that it seemed Donald had moved up the date and tried to get rid of Caroline earlier instead of waiting to do it as they had planned.

000

Caroline was exhausted.

She had fallen down thrice, and her arms ached. She had tried to move the broken furniture out of her way to no avail. She knew that it probably the least of her worries right now but she was filthy. Very filthy. She was about to sit down when a bright light shone overhead and she heard a voice.

"Caroline. Caroline can you hear me?"

She was too stunned to speak and it wasn't until the fourth call that she responded. "I'm here."

"Don't worry," the cheery voice told her, "we're going to get you out of there."

A rope was thrown into the room and a few seconds later a man came down. He reached for her, secured the ropes around her and took her out of the room.

000

They were in the kitchen baking or in Caroline's case trying to. Caroline had found a recipe online that she dying to try out and Richard was teaching her how to. It had been three days since The Ordeal as they referred to it and Caroline was fine, she'd had some minor cuts and bruises but they had all insisted that she spend the night in hospital and apart from the black eye – the only reason why she had agreed to stay at home, she was perfectly alright.

Tommy had finally agreed to give them more information, it was only fair, he'd said, since Caroline had almost died.

It turned out Miranda was actually an agent like them and she had been sent in to infiltrate the Harrow Group almost a year earlier. She had gotten in as a gun for hire and pretty soon she'd caught Donald's eye. Donald Farthington, it seemed, was not above using the company assets for personal work. Miranda, as Donald's favourite gun, had managed to get information on the Harrow Group and their activities and it was she who had finally found a way for Richard and Caroline to get in.

When she had heard that Donald wanted to get rid of Caroline and Richard she had volunteered for the job but Gina but been reluctant to use her. 'We should use someone outside the group,' she'd reasoned, 'someone unconnected to us.' Gina's argument had been sound and they had all agreed to it, that is, until Donald had decided to backstab his partners. His plan had been to kill Caroline and have the Martins take the fall for it. In fact his plan had been to get rid of all the evidence including Miranda.

Caroline had been understandably alarmed when she'd found Miranda in the helicopter that had come to rescue her. Tommy had told Miranda to wait until Caroline was better before explaining but Miranda had insisted and since she was the one who knew exactly where she'd left Caroline, Tommy had had no choice but to agree.

"I never meant to give you a black eye," Miranda had explained, "but Reynolds refused to leave and since I knew that he was armed I didn't want him to panic and shoot you instead."

-0-

"I thought you were here to help," Caroline told Richard.

"I am."

"Staring doesn't count," she told him.

"I still can't believe I close I came to losing you."

"Miranda had everything under control."

"Not quite," Richard replied, "I'd say that the real person who saved your life was Dad."

"Yes," Caroline nodded, "his tracker earrings ensured that help got to me quicker than it would have."

"I don't think I could go on without you, you know." He leaned in to kiss the side of her neck. "I've never been so scared in my life."

"I doubt that."

"It's the truth."

"Well, I'm still here," she smiled softly. "And I have no intention of going anywhere although you do realise that I was just doing my job when all this happened."

"Your job's too dangerous," he said.

"You're one to talk," she replied, "and may I remind you that it was your job that got me into this whole mess?"

"No it wasn't."

"If you hadn't gotten me into the whole Harrow group thingy none of this would have happened."

He shook his head and took the eggs out of the tray, and cracked half a dozen of them expertly into a bowl. "Grab the flour and sugar in the cabinet, would you?" he asked casually, turning the knobs to preheat the oven.

"I had already turned that on," Caroline protested.

"No, you hadn't." Richard laughed. "It's no wonder you've never baked cookies before if you can't even turn the oven on."

"Fine. What next?"

"You have to have the right ingredients, of course and then time everything just right," he said, measuring out the flour and sugar and putting them into a bowl.

"I can't believe you know how to bake," she said. "Here's the mixer."

"Did you grease the sheet?" he asked.

"Yes, chef," she replied, "I greased the whole sheet evenly just like you told me to."

"Good," he pretended to check on the sheet and said, "you now leave the dough to chill for an hour."

"A whole hour?" she complained. "You said that this was going to be easy."

"It is."

"When will the cookies get ready?"

"They'll be ready soon," he assured her, "but now, my dear, we have guests coming over." There had been an onslaught of visitors – Rebecca, Charles and Jane had come to the hospital and then Richard's siblings had been waiting for them at home when they'd returned. Georgie had called to say that she would be by as soon as finished her exams.

000

"That's a nasty black eye," Elizabeth said.

"Who knew that getting a house for fundraising event could be this deadly?" Caroline replied. They had decided to stick to the truth, without bringing in the Harrow group and Richard's job.

"Have they found Reynolds yet?" Elizabeth asked, "Brought him in for questioning?"

"Last I heard he was still on his second honeymoon," Caroline replied, "but they'll find him soon enough."

"And you had never seen this Miranda woman before in your life?"

"Lizzie, this isn't one of your articles," Darcy reminded his wife. Elizabeth Darcy was an investigative reporter; she was currently working on her second true crime novel.

"I know," Lizzie smiled at Darcy, "but hitting her and throwing her into a condemned building seems a bit extreme."

"I was so scared," Caroline said.

"Imagine how I felt when I got home and you were nowhere to be found."

"Thank God for phone tracking," Darcy smiled slyly at his cousin.

"Yes," Richard laughed, "one of the best inventions in my book."

"Why didn't she take your phone?" Elizabeth asked. "She obviously never wanted you to be found. So why leave you with a means to get help? Why didn't she just kill you outright?"

"I don't know," Caroline replied, "but honestly I didn't even try to call anyone. I was too busy thinking of the gaping hole above my head."

000

"Did you hear about the Martins getting arrested?" Caroline was giving Elizabeth a tour of the house while Darcy and Richard were in the study talking.

"Yes," Caroline said.

"I knew they were evil but human trafficking is just the worst."

"They were arrested for human trafficking?" Caroline asked. She hadn't known that.

"Caught red-handed with a cargo load of girls from Poland," Elizabeth replied.

"How did you find out?" Caroline asked.

"You know I can't reveal my sources," Elizabeth said, "I was actually following her that day I run into you. She was supposed to be meeting one of her contacts."

"I hope you don't think that I'm somehow involved in her operations."

"No," Elizabeth laughed, "I admit I never liked you before but even _I_ can't believe you would be involved in such activities."

"That's something I guess."

"She probably wanted to use your fundraiser for something," Elizabeth said, "but now I guess we'll never know what."

"I guess not."

"Did I mention how much I love your house," Elizabeth said, "Richard said that you did all the interiors yourself."

"I love decorating."

"Maybe you should come by and give me ideas," Elizabeth said, "I saw what you did with Jane's sitting room and it's just perfect."

"Thank you."

"So, tomorrow?'

"Ah… tomorrow?"

"You can't go into the office with that black eye," Elizabeth said, "you wouldn't want to give people the wrong idea about Richard and I want to get started as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow it is then." Maybe this give them a chance to improve their relationship, and who knows even become friends.

000

"You and Caroline were away a long time," Darcy commented.

"She was showing me around the house and I figured you wanted to talk to Richard alone."

"We're meeting with Aunt Catherine's lawyer tomorrow."

"Isn't she coming?"

"The lawyer called but I'm sure she'll be there if only to tell us about how displeased she is with our choices in spouses."

"She doesn't like Caroline?"

"Caroline isn't so easy to like as you well know."

"She's not so open," Elizabeth said, "but she's a better person than I thought she was."

"She's probably like most people then," he teased, "she improves on closer acquaintance."

"There's no need to take that tone with me," Elizabeth smiled at him, "it's not like I thought she was the scum of the earth."

"No," he replied, "how could she be with Charlie for a brother?"

000

"Now comes the fun part," Richard said.

"How can this be the fun part?" Caroline grumbled, "we haven't even made them or even put them in the oven yet."

"Trust me."

He rolled out the dough and asked Caroline chose the shapes that they were going to use and had to admit that it was fun. Pretty soon the air was filled with warm sugary smells and the first batch of cookies was done.

"The cookies are really good," she said.

"I told you that I was an awesome baker," he replied.

"That you did."

"Maybe I should open up my own shop."

Caroline eyed him; she knew what he was trying to say and although she had been very scared, sure that she was going to die she couldn't let him do it.

"Richard," she began only to be interrupted be his, "You almost died."

"I could be knocked by a car while crossing the street."

"That wouldn't be my fault," he replied, "this was."

"It was probably my fault more than it was yours," she told him, "it's my connections that they wanted."

"I got you into this."

"Who knows maybe I would have gotten into this thing with or without you," she said.

"Caro."

"You can't just quit your job," she told him, "I won't let you do that. Not for me."

"You're sure?"

"Have you ever known me not to be sure?"

He smiled. "I love you Caroline Fitzwilliam."

"Of course you do."

000


End file.
